Archive for the 'Jon Anderson' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Yes: I took a lot of heat online last month after the British prog-rock innovators played the Orpheum, for daring to say they sound completely intact – and maybe even a little better off these days – given the powerful younger pipes of replacement vocalist Jon Davison. Chiefly shocking among alleged slanders was my assertion that original sky-high singer Jon Anderson, who has been on his own since 2004, has suffered “unavoidable deterioration” with age.

I stand by that claim, and back it up with in-the-flesh and online assessments these outraged readers assumed I didn’t have. All the same, I’d amend my comment now, if only to point out that stating the obvious – singers who sound as strong in their mid-60s as they did 40 years earlier are almost nonexistent – doesn’t mean Anderson can’t sing at all. But that’s exactly how scores of fans took it.

There’s something else I’d note: Enjoyable though he remains, Anderson live either performs solo or with strings – and he doesn’t have founding bassist extraordinaire Chris Squire or still-agile guitar master Steve Howe. Further bolstered by expertly nuanced keys work from Geoff Downes and solid drumming from Alan White, the group is currently touring a show that their former frontman can’t possibly stage: robust readings of three classic albums in a single night.

Let's go with the third option, given the group's performance Tuesday night at the Greek Theatre, with Styx opening.

There exists a conundrum in the world of classic-rock concerts. So many veteran bands are still touring, thanks to a combination of factors – iTunes and ringtones and the like are helping keep old hits alive, fairs and casinos are booking classic acts more frequently than younger ones (perhaps because they attract better-behaved patrons?) and, likely the chief factor, baby boomers have the money for expensive tickets.

But is it really Journey without Steve Perry at the mic? Will it truly be Three Dog Night at Pacific Amphitheatre next week when big dog Chuck Negron won't be on stage? How about Foreigner, with only one of its six original members (albeit chief songwriter Mick Jones) on board? And of course the Who is half the band it used to be.

It's a week of extra dates and encore visits, with Brandon Flowers tacking on a night at the Fox Theater in Pomona, on Nov. 9, to his coming Southern California swing, while Mike Patton and the revived '90s band Faith No More have added a second show, on Dec. 1, to its stand at the Hollywood Palladium, now that the Nov. 30 show has sold out.

Tickets for Flowers are $27.50 in advance, $30 day of show. Travis frontman Fran Healy has been added as opener on that tour. Tickets for the FNM gig, on the other hand, are $63.45, including fees. Both shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Adam Lambert is making his way back to Los Angeles again, and though I'm sure he easily could sell out the 7,100-capacity Nokia Theatre, he's instead opting to play the considerably smaller L.A. Live venue Club Nokia on Dec. 16. Tickets, $35-$49.50, are on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Also at that hotspot and on sale at that time: Kelis, Nov. 19, $28.50-$35 ... and OK Go, Nov. 27, $22.50 in advance, $25 day of show. On sale Saturday at 10 a.m.: R&B mainstays K-Ci & JoJo with Dru Hill, Nov. 11, $19.50-$50.

To make up for what she considers a poor performance at the Greek Theatre last month (she was getting over the flu, but our David Hall thought it was a valiant appearance all the same), Sheryl Crow will play a free show at the Pantages Theatre on Nov. 16. "My fans deserve better," she said in a statement, "so I am playing a special show just for them and to spread awareness about the fight against breast cancer."